Burnett has developed a system where he can spot people who have
moved down to better seats.

While he doesn’t want to share too
many secrets, he said the way a person acts and other little things are
big giveaways.

It’s not terribly hard to spot people trying to trade up. The key is what you do about it. Some guys — like this guy — kick ‘em back to where their real seats are. Other guys just turn a blind eye, realizing that as long as the real ticket holder isn’t there it probably doesn’t matter.

But some guys — like the ushers at a ballpark I’ve been to a few times but which I won’t identify because I don’t want to get anyone in trouble — will steer you directly to a primo, unoccupied seat as early as the first inning for as little as a finsky. They’ll even wipe it down for you as if you bought the seat yourself.

But, hey, if the guy in Kansas City wants to leave a few Lincolns on the table, that’s no skin off my nose . . .